Engineers Without Borders – USA

Engineers Without Borders – USA (EWB–USA) is a non-profit humanitarian organization established to partner with developing communities worldwide in order to improve their quality of life. It is the U.S. national group representing the larger international Engineers Without Borders in the USA. This partnership involves the implementation of sustainable engineering projects, while involving and training internationally responsible engineers and engineering students.

Engineers Without Borders – USA
AbbreviationEWB–USA
FormationIncorporated June 2002
TypeNGO
PurposeCommunity development
HeadquartersBoulder, Colorado
Key people
Gregory Sauter – President
Catherine A. Leslie – Executive Director
AffiliationsAmerican Society of Civil Engineers
Websiteewb-usa.org

History
Engineers Without Borders at Maker Faire in 2008

Engineers Without Borders – USA (EWB-USA) was born from a chance meeting of Bernard Amadei (a Professor of Civil Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder), and Angel Tzec (a representative of the Belize Ministry of Agriculture). Tzec's village in Belize was in a difficult situation because it had no running water or sanitation. Tzec invited Dr. Amadei to visit his village in Belize, where he saw how laborious a task it was for the villagers to gather water. "I came across little girls who had to carry water back and forth to the village all day, so they couldn't go to school," Amadei says. "I knew that as a civil engineer, there had to be something I could do.”[1]

Dr. Amadei returned with eight University of Colorado- Boulder Students and a local civil engineering expert, also from Boulder. With the help of the local community, they installed a clean water system powered by a waterfall in the area for less than $15,000. It was from this experience that Dr. Amadei came to see that he could utilize professional and student engineers to improve the quality of life in other development projects around the world.

Awards

In 2010 EWB–USA received the Henry C. Turner Prize for Innovation in Construction Technology from the National Building Museum. In a statement from the prize jury, Art Gensler said, "This organization gives locals hope and talented engineering professionals the opportunity to share their knowledge with countries that can so greatly benefit from their efforts."[2]

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References
  1. Walsh, Bryan (2007-11-29). "Blueprint Brigade". Time Magazine.
  2. Peter James (2010-07-13). "Engineers Without Borders Selected for 2010 Turner Prize". Architect Magazine.
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